[Dixielandjazz] Getting into your Solo

[Stephen G Barbone]

On Dec 15, 2008, at 10:56 AM, Russ Guarino wrote:

> I was told, by an old pro, that a good solo tracks the melody line  
> from time to time.  The audience likes it because they then know
> where the solo is coming from.  The idea is that when the soloist  
> flies away, the audience doesn't know what is going on.
> I tend to do that and I've had to work on getting back to the melody  
> once in a while.

IMO that's very good advice Russ. OKOM audiences are melody oriented  
and so putting in a bit of melody here and there helps them "hear" the  
solo. Too many soloists, IMO, are extremely technically proficient,  
but tend to play vertically on the chords. They can lose an audience  
pretty quickly, because they think in short intervals.

The goal ( I think) should be to improvise melodically. By that I  
don't mean play the melody all the time, but compose a new melody over  
the same changes. And instead of thinking in short intervals, think in  
8,  12 or 16 bar sequences, whatever the length of A or B is.

For example, Bechet was a master at this. He plays his A and B solos  
through the entire length of them original tune, but the song he plays  
is new, and his own. Wonderfully logical. Some of the best drummers I  
know play drums this way, in chorus length sequences so that you hear  
"melody" drums. Our new drummer, Mike Piper does this. So well that we  
no longer count bars, we know by instinct when to come back in because  
we hear the melody.

BTW, one thing I forgot to mention when discussing problems about  
getting into a solo when following another soloist, is a very helpful  
device. That of trading choruses;  four bars or eights etc., or even  
twos if able.  If the beginning musician has someone with whom to  
practice these, after a few months, he/she should be able to quickly  
get into a solo at any given point on the chart. Or do it on the stand.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband